A/N: Hope you enjoy! And I promise it'll get better!

Disclaimer: I don't own the Nartuo series…unfortunately :..(

Italics like this mean its thoughts in a characters head

A New Life

ShikaIno:

InoChou:

InoItachi:

InoKiba:

InoSai:

:) ShikaTema:

Ch. 3 Different

Sakura stretched as her alarm clock went off. Sakura hummed as she turned it off and walked in the bathroom. She let the water run as she smiled. She couldn't believe she was actually happy to be going to school, but she couldn't wait to see Hinata and her other new friends again. She sang lightly in the shower as she rinsed her hair. When she was done she wrapped herself and her hair in a towel again. She was feeling so happy that she went and put on one of her favorite CDs at a volume that wouldn't wake her father up. She hummed along with the music as she slipped her uniform on and giggled as she watched her skirt sway back and forth. She walked back in the bathroom and dried her hair. She put foundation on her bruises not even caring she had them and slipped her red ribbon on.

She smiled in the mirror. Even though she had gotten some bruises from that boy she was able to meet Naruto and Sasuke. She giggled about how different their behavior was as she brushed her hair a few more times. She bit her lip thinking about how unhappy Sasuke seemed to be. His scowling face is kind of cute though… She blushed at the thought and shook her head, she was acting like some drooling girl. Before she left the bathroom she couldn't help but spray some of her favorite perfume on. After she slipped her socks and shoes on, she grabbed her briefcase and hopped down the stairs, "You seem pretty happy this morning."

Sakura turned and smiled at her father, "I guess I am. How come you're up already?" Sakura's father motioned her to come into the kitchen, "I wanted to make you breakfast since you had to go buy some yesterday." Sakura smiled at her father, "It looks great." They ate together have a nice conversation just like they used to at their old house. Sakura's father quickly got up and handed the car keys to Sakura's confused face, "I don't have to work till Monday so you can take it to school." Sakura looked at him for a moment and then gave one of her best smiles, "Thanks Dad!" Sakura grabbed the lunch her father had prepared for her and kissed him on the cheek before she ran out the door.

Sakura smiled under the sunrise as she jumped in the car. Sakura turned the GPS on for directions and drove off. She wished she didn't need to use the GPS but she'd learn the way to school soon enough. Once she pulled into the parking lot the sun was completely up and it was only 7:45am. Sakura smiled, she had 15min to talk to her new friends. She tucked her lunch and car keys into her briefcase and jogged over to the school doors. She walked through the halls managing to remember how to get to her class. She smiled as she slid open the door to her classroom. The classroom was already half full as Sakura put her stuff on her desk. She walked over to Hinata's desk, "Good morning Hinata!"

Sasuke watched Sakura closely as she chatted with Hinata. He noticed immediately after Sakura walked in that she had covered her bruises up with make-up. He assumed it was for convenience. He noticed how close Hinata and Sakura acted and that Sakura seemed much happier today. Why the hell do I care? It's just a girl. Sasuke sighed, Itachi must be getting to him with all his girlfriend talks. "Good Morning Sasuke-kun!" Sasuke looked at Sakura as she sat down in her seat smiling at him. He nodded at her in response, her smile really was something else. Sasuke looked up as he saw Naruto sneaking up behind Sakura with a mischievous grin. Sakura almost screamed as Naruto quickly covered her eyes from behind. Before Naruto could say guess who Sakura slammed her elbow back into his ribs on reflex. Sakura turned around as she heard Naruto yelp in pain and let go, "Oh Naruto I'm sorry! I'm really sorry it's a reflex, are you okay?" Naruto clenched his arm around his ribs, "Jeez Sakura-chan, guys must come after you a lot. You hit hard!"

Sasuke watched Sakura repeatedly say sorry as the bell rang. She did hit him pretty hard and it seemed automatic. Sasuke couldn't help but wonder how many times a guy like the one from two days ago came after Sakura. She seemed to know how to defend herself pretty well despite how kind she came off as. Sakura tapped her pencil as she waited for the teacher to come in. Kakashi-sensei's late… She assumed it was normal by the way everyone was still talking and acting like the bell hadn't rung. She tilted her face towards Sasuke, "Sasuke-kun is Kakashi-sensei always late like this?" Sasuke sighed at the question, "Basically" Sakura continued looking at him, his answers were always so short or just a gesture. It actually made Sakura feel a little interested, she wanted to learn more about her new friends but Sasuke seemed the most interesting. He seemed so different than anybody she'd ever met before. "What are you staring at?" Sakura blushed realizing she was still staring at him and turned her face towards her desk, "None of your business!" Sasuke cocked an eyebrow at her, she actually raised her voice at him. No girl had ever done that either besides his mother.

Kakashi finally walked in and clapped his hand to get their attention, "Sorry I'm late, Tsunade-sama needed me to run some errands and I got lost." Naruto stood up from his chair, "Liar!" Kakashi motioned for him to sit down, "Well since you all seem so energetic I'll just pass out your test now." The whole class moaned and Kiba slapped the back of Naruto's head from behind. Kakashi passed out tests and looked down at Sakura when he got to her desk, "I expect you to take this too." Sakura nodded as she looked at the test he handed to her. Once he passed all the tests out they began. Sakura wrote her name down and scanned over the questions. She gave a small smile and started circling answers. She had learned all of this before. She quickly circled answers and flipped through pages until she was done. She smiled with content as she flipped the test over and set her pencil down.

Sasuke saw her finish in the corner of his eye. He was on the last page but she still finished before him. Nobody had ever finished before him. He felt a little interested and angry from hurt pride as he circled the last few answers and set his pencil down. Sakura was different from any girl he had ever met, that for sure. She didn't fawn over his money, she knew how to fight back, she was extremely smart, and she had pink hair. It was a little irritating but he found her refreshing compared to other girls. He watched the back of her head as she stared out the window waiting for the rest of the class to finish. Why is she so different? It's not that he wanted her to be the same as everyone else, she just confused him. Sasuke didn't like being confused, confusion was a weak feeling.

After another half hour the only people left taking the test were Kiba and Naruto, like usual. Hinata watched Naruto sadly, Naruto seemed so stressed. The only reason Naruto was able to get into the school is because his guardian, Jiraya, was best friends with Tsunade and Naruto was given a simpler test. Even with a simpler test Naruto would've struggled if Jiraya didn't make him study his brains out. Hinata wanted to help him study but she got too shy around him. She sighed as she twisted her pencil around in her fingers, if only there was something she could do for him. If only she had more confidence.

"Times up, pass up your tests." Naruto and Kiba both slammed their heads on their desk in unison and then circled random answers as fast as they could. They spent the rest of class reading their textbooks as Kakashi graded papers. The whole class looked up as Kakashi made a surprised sound, "I must say I'm impressed Sakura, you got a 100." The whole class burst into conversation over the topic, Sakura had only heard Kakashi talk about the curriculum from yesterday and she got a 100. Sasuke stared at her proud smile, she really was different. The bell rang and Kakashi picked up all the tests and left the room. Naruto quickly jumped over Ino's desk and slammed a hand down on Sakura's desk, "How'd you do that?" Sakura giggled at the utter shock displayed on his face, "I already learned it in my old schools textbooks." Naruto looked at her dumbfounded, "You actually read the textbooks?" Sakura couldn't help but laugh at his question, "Yeah, it has everything you're gonna learn in it." Sakura continued to laugh as Naruto wore a look of utter surprise.

Sasuke's ears rung at the sound of her laugh. Her laugh was more beautiful than her smile. Sasuke frowned and ran his hand through his hair realizing he was thinking about her again. Sakura looked over and saw him frowning, "Sasuke-kun is something wrong?" Sasuke turned his face away, "No" Sakura blinked at him in confusion. Sakura frowned, she really didn't understand him. Ino pushed Naruto away to get her view back of Sakura, "Hey Sakura, me and Hinata were gonna hang out after school today. Wanna come?" Sakura gave a look of surprise for a moment but it was quickly replaced with a big smile, "I'd love to!"

_a few hours later_

Sakura smiled at the clock, there was only ten minutes till school was over. Sakura closed her notebook up as Yamato finished giving notes. Yamato cleared his throat, "As you know, you will all have you're final project due at the end of May. I'll post the pairings you'll be working in and the rubrics on the board. Make sure to look at it and grab a rubric before you leave." Sakura became a little curious to who her partner would be. She hoped it was one of her new friends since she hadn't really met anyone else yet. She wanted someone who she knew would work hard too though. She watched Yamato post a piece of paper on the board and a stack of rubrics next to it. She put everything in her briefcase and pulled her car keys out feeling eager to see who her partner was and to hang out with Ino and Hinata.

Sasuke groaned in his mind at the idea of a group project. He hated group projects, he always had to worry about his partner bringing his grade down. He sighed as the bell rang and everyone headed towards the list. I better not be paired with Dobe! Sakura walked up to the list trying to see over a few heads feeling a little nervous. Once she managed to see she scanned for her name. Sakura Haruno, Sakura Haruno… her eyes widened as she saw Sasuke's name next to hers. She continued to stare at their names next to each other. She was paired with someone she knew but she was afraid Sasuke wouldn't want to work with her. She turned to see Sasuke shift his gaze from the list to her. She felt a little nervous as he looked at her, "Um, I hope we work well together." Sasuke looked at her awkward smile, "Good, you're smart."

Sakura blushed as he walked away. Was that a compliment? She quickly got out of everyone's way and saw Hinata and Ino next to the door waiting for her. She smiled at them feeling excited, "So where should we go?" Ino smiled and gave an automatic answer, "Let's go to the mall!" Sakura nodded, she hadn't been to the mall yet. Sakura once again drove Hinata and Ino drove her own purple convertible that she got for her 16th birthday in September. Hinata was the oldest since she turned seventeen back in December but her father preferred her to be driven by a few of his trusted employees or her trusted friends. Sakura had to use her GPS to get to the mall but when she pulled in a parking space her jaw dropped, "It's huge!" Hinata giggled as they got out of the car. Ino had parked nearby and jogged up to them, "Let's go!"

Sakura walked through the mall in amazement, the mall in her old town couldn't compare to this. Ino dragged her into a clothing store she hadn't seen before, "Let's buy some clothes to change into." Luckily Sakura had plenty of money left from her birthday last month. The three girls enjoyed browsing through clothes and forcing each other to try different things on. Sakura bought and wore a short sleeve, red sweater dress that went half way down her thigh that Ino picked out with black leggings, a wide black belt around her waist, and short black boots. The sweater dress hugged her curves nicely but was still comfortable. Ino had gotten a purple tube top, a navy skirt, and white heels that had ribbons crossing up her legs. After much convincing Ino made Hinata get a lavender tank top that wrapped into a bow in the corner with a short sleeve white jacket on top. Sakura picked out a knee length navy skirt for Hinata due to Hinata's fear of showing too much skin and some black flats to go with it.

Sakura smiled as she carried her school uniform in a shopping bag, "Now what?" Ino gave an excited smile, "Let's go pick out our dresses for the dance!" Sakura blinked at Ino's eager face, "What dance?" Ino gasped at Sakura's question, "That's right you don't know! Our school has a dance in the middle of May every year. It's kind of like a banquet for the students." Sakura tried to imagine what the dance would be like. She had been to parties but never a school dance. Sakura felt a little eager as Ino dragged her and Hinata into a store with the biggest collection of dresses Sakura had ever seen. Sakura walked over and ran her hands through the different fabrics, "I don't know where to start." Ino gave an evil smile, "Let me and Hinata take care of that."

While Ino grabbed Hinata to go pick out dresses for Sakura, Sakura took out her cell phone. She dialed a number and waited for an answer. "Hi honey is something wrong?" Sakura smiled at her father's voice, "No I just had a question. There's a dance coming up at school, is it alright if I use my credit card to buy a dress?" Sakura furrowed an eyebrow at her father's laughing on the phone, "I'm sorry honey it's just a little ironic. Yes you can go buy a dress but I also need you to go buy another dress for a dinner we're having with my boss and his family tomorrow." We have dinner with his boss tomorrow? "Um alright, thanks Dad." She hung up the phone and went to go find Ino and Hinata.

"Hey, actually I have to but two dresses. I have to go to dinner with my dad's boss tomorrow." Ino's eyes widened, "Then there's no time to waste!" Throughout the next hour Sakura was forced to try on countless dresses. Lucky for Sakura she had put foundation on her back this morning since a lot of dresses showed her back. With all the commotion Sakura had managed to find her two dresses and Ino and Hinata had gotten theirs as well. Sakura sighed from exhaustion as they sat down at a table in the food court, "I didn't know looking for dresses was so exhausting." Hinata giggled as Sakura leaned back in her chair, "It is with Ino." Ino just smiled and took no offense to it. Ino blinked remembering something, "Oh yeah Sakura what's your number?" Sakura smiled as they exchanged numbers. They were the first people she had gotten numbers from since she moved here. "Sakura-chan, Ino, Hinata-chan!" They turned heads seeing Naruto shouting from across the mall and waving at them. Sakura smiled and waved back, she blinked as she noticed Sasuke standing next to him.

Sakura remembered she did need to ask when Sasuke wanted to work on the project. She giggled as Naruto and Sasuke tried to force through the crowd over to them. Suddenly a group of four guys walked over and stood in front of their table. Sakura narrowed her eyed as Ino gave a disgusted look at them and Hinata clenched her hands in fear. The guy with dark red hair gave a wicked smile, "You girls mind if we sit with you?" Sakura grunted in disgust as the guys eyes traveled down her and her friend's bodies, "Yes, we actually do mind and we would appreciate it if you left." The four guys laughed and one with brown hair spoke, "You have quite a mouth cutie." Sakura glared at him as he put a hand on her shoulder and she smacked it away, "Don't touch me." The one with dark red hair leaned closer to her, "Or what?" Sakura fumed at how cocky the guys acted.

Naruto pushed his way through the crowd and looked around, "Where'd they go?" Naruto suddenly saw a guy fall to the ground after a pinkette punched his face. Sasuke narrowed his eyebrows, "Found them." The boys walked quickly over after seeing the guys get angry. Sakura glared down at the guys and Hinata watched in fear. Another guy tried to grab her but she collided her heel into his cheek and watched him crash to the ground. The two other guys glared her down and both charged at her. Sakura quickly jumped off her chair and pushed both of the guys on their backs to the floor. She landed on her feet watching them rub their faces. Suddenly the dark red head she punched first grabbed her ankle and pulled her hard out of her stance. Sakura waited to feel her body slam to the floor but instead landed into someone's chest who grabbed her arms to steady her.

(red-head not Gaara! Or Sasori, just had Sasori in mind.)

She looked up and saw it was Sasuke who had prevented her from falling. Naruto quickly slammed his foot into the dark red heads arm so he would let go of Sakura's ankle. The four guys got up and after Sasuke stared them down for a while they quickly left. Sasuke sighed and let go of Sakura, "Do you always get into this much trouble?" Sakura blushed and faced him with a pout, "It wasn't my fault!" Sasuke looked at her face still amazed that she was actually yelling at him, "Shouldn't you be saying thank you?" Sakura crossed her arms and turned her blushing face away, "Thanks I guess." Naruto laughed as he watched Sakura get worked up, "You got some nice fighting moves Sakura-chan!" Ino nodded, "Yeah you really shocked me. I had no idea you could do that, but I'm glad you did." Hinata smiled feeling relieved, "Thank you three for protecting us."

Sakura smiled and sat back down in her seat, "Oh yeah Sasuke-kun, When do you wanna work on that project?" Sasuke sighed remembering he actually had to have a partner, "I don't know, I'll call you and we'll figure it out." Sakura cocked an eyebrow, "You don't have my number." Sasuke looked down at her, "Then give it to me." Sasuke handed out his black cell phone waiting for her to put her number in it. Sakura stared at him for a minute and grabbed his phone and tossed him hers. Sakura blushed as she typed in her name and number. It's been a long time since I've given a guy my number. Naruto whined as they handed each other their phones back, "No fair! I want your number too!" Sakura giggled at Naruto's complaint and switched phones with him. Naruto looked up after typing in his number, "That's right, Hinata-chan I need your number so we can do our project too!" Hinata blushed past the shade of Sakura's hair. She nodded and took out her lavender phone, "Y-yeah."

After they all exchanged numbers they talked for a few minutes and Sakura checked the time, it was already 5:35pm. Sakura sighed realizing she needed to head home even though she didn't want to separate from her friends. Sakura looked up at them with a small blush of nervousness on her cheeks, "I need to head home, but…Um, would you guys like to have dinner back at my house?" Sakura fiddled with the edge of her dress waiting for an answer. Ino laughed and nodded, "Yeah, but you don't have to be so nervous to ask." Sakura's face brightened. Hinata smiled, "I'd love too. I just have to tell my Father real quick." Sakura smiled even bigger and looked at Naruto and Sasuke with her excited eyes. Naruto crossed his arms behind his back, "Yay! I get to see Sakura-chan's house!" Sakura's heart raced with happiness and she looked towards Sasuke trying not to expect too much. Sasuke looked at her imagining actually having dinner with his friends instead of alone at his house. He nodded and Sakura blushed in surprise, she quickly texted her father saying she was bringing friends for dinner and stood up.

_a few minutes later_

Sakura couldn't stop smiling as she drove Hinata back to her house and everyone else followed her in their own cars. After her second day at her new school she was already bringing a group of friends over for dinner. She clenched the steering wheel in happiness as she pulled into her driveway. She quickly turned the car off and grabbed her shopping bags and briefcase out of the car with Hinata. She locked the car as the rest of them pulled up in their cars. Sakura cocked an eyebrow as Sasuke pulled up in his black 2010 Ferrari and Naruto pulled up in a red 2009 Mustang that Jiraya bought for him. Sakura muttered to Hinata under her breath, "Guys sure like to show off don't they." Hinata giggled as all of them got out of their cars.

Sakura had an extra hop in her step as she opened the door, "I'm home!" Sakura held the door open as her friends walked in. Her father stepped out of the kitchen as a delicious aroma filled the house, "Welcome home sweetheart. It's nice to see you again Hinata." Hinata smiled and waved at him. Sakura closed the door and gave an excited smile at her father, "Dad this is Ino, Sasuke-kun, Naruto, and you already know Hinata. Everybody this is my Dad." They all waved and said hello at him. Sakura's father gave a great smile, "Dinner will be ready in about ten minutes so you guys can hang around." Sakura nodded as he headed back into the kitchen.

Hinata gave an excited smile that they still had some time left, "Sakura please play the piano while we wait." Sakura blushed at the idea of playing in front of more new friends and looked at them, "Is that alright?" They all nodded and headed off to the piano room. Sasuke observed how excited Hinata seemed that Sakura was going to play and watched Sakura closely. Sakura uncovered the keys to the piano and used her ribbon to tie her long hair back. Hinata held her hands together in excitement, "Can you play the same one as yesterday?" (Pachelbel's Canon in D performed by Lee Galloway***on YouTube). Sakura smiled and nodded. She took a deep breath and placed her hands on the keys. Sasuke watched her closely as she closed her jade orbs and played. His eyes widened slightly as she continued to play, he couldn't help but think it was beautiful. As she continued playing he couldn't help but relax as the melodies rang in his head. He watched her in awe, something he hadn't felt in a long time, as the beauty of the song grew stronger. He had never heard something played so wonderfully or that made him feel peaceful.

Sakura smiled as she played the last note and turned to smile at her friends. Sakura blushed immediately after seeing the small smile Sasuke showed for a second. I take it back, he's not cute. He's really hot! Sakura snapped out of her thoughts as she heard Ino clap a few times, "That was so beautiful Sakura!" Sakura smiled as she fixed the ribbon in her hair. Naruto ran over to her and crushed her with a hug, "Sakura-chan that was awesome! You can kick ass and play like that, that's so cool!" Sakura blushed pushed him off her as she giggled, "Thanks, but don't hug me like that. I might punch you by accident." Naruto quickly backed off with a goofy grin. Sakura shut up the piano and stood up as her father called them for dinner.

Sakura's father had prepared and amazing dinner and they eagerly pulled up their extra chairs to the table. Sakura's father managed not to embarrass her and the house was filled with more laughter than Sakura had ever heard in her past houses in years. By the time they had finished dinner it was 7:30pm due to all the talking. Naruto held his belly, "I'm so stuffed! Thanks Mr. Haruno!" Sakura's father laughed as him and Sakura piled the dishes into the sink, "Thank you all for having dinner with my daughter." Sakura lightly elbowed him in the shoulder. Sasuke watched Sakura make jokes with her father. Sasuke had actually given a few small smiles and laughs under his breath during dinner. He hadn't had such a good time at dinner in years. He smiled a little as he looked at Sakura's happy face, She really is something…

Sakura blushed and looked down at the floor after she saw Sasuke smiling at her. She subconsciously tucked a few strands of hair behind her ear before looking back up at her friends. She waved goodbye at her door as they all got into their cars and Hinata got into her driver's car. She walked back in the house as they all drove off and ran up to her room. She jumped on her bed and hugged her pillow, she felt so happy. She couldn't believe how lucky she had gotten to move here. She couldn't believe she was calling moving lucky. She smiled as she grabbed her mother's picture off her dresser. Mom, you wouldn't believe how happy I am.

_authors notes_

So I kinda got some SasuSaku in there. It wouldn't be very in character to have them dating on their third day of knowing each other but it'll get there. Naruto doesn't have a crush on Sakura he's just really friendly. I wonder if you can guess who Sakura's father's boss is. So for the Ino and Shikamaru pairings I really like ShikaTema but I'll avoid it if voting over rules. For Ino I just think she should have somebody, it doesn't really matter to me who it is. Sai, TenTen, Neji, and Rock Lee will come in later; so will Karin :P Please comment!